


Erbkaiser's Offerings (Worm snips)

by erbkaiser



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Ficlet Collection, Gen, Snippets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 11:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15885348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erbkaiser/pseuds/erbkaiser
Summary: Various incomplete ficlets set in Worm (Parahumans) by Wildbow. Since all the cool kids are doing it. Expect alt powers, AUs, different POVs.





	1. Vacate

**Author's Note:**

> I discovered Worm through fanfic last November and after tracking down and reading the full web serial, I decided to try my own attempt at writing fanfic for the setting. I have several things I'm still working on, but also a few snippets that didn't want to cooperate any further than an initial chapter.  
> So to rip off... erm as inspired by others, I've decided to create my own snippet thread. Feedback and critique is welcomed, but also feel free to take what I post here and put it to better use.
> 
> My hope is that by posting these snippets I'll find inspiration to write more, both the snippets I post here and some other ideas I am still working on.
> 
> I'm also neither a native English speaker nor American so I apologize in advance for any typos and other errors in what you'll find here.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the first attempts that weren't completely horrible. In retrospect I copied too much of canon here.  
> Taylor's power is that she can open any lock in sight, including abstract locks like grenade pins.
> 
> Butterflies lead to her intercepting Oni Lee instead of Lung at that first night out.

**Vacate**

 

Taylor hesitated before opening the door to her closet. Ever since the locker she had developed a —justifiable, thank you very much— fear of small spaces. She took a deep breath to centre herself, then opened the doors. Her chosen outfit for the night was ready. Black track pants, leather gloves, combat boots that she had fished out of a dumpster, a black hoodie that could completely cover her hair and hide most of her face from view, and a domino mask to hide what the hoodie couldn’t. It was all very low budget, but that was what she had for now. Time to go out and be a hero… as soon as Danny, her father, went to sleep.

 

An hour later she was patrolling the streets adjacent to the Brockton Bay docks. ABB territory, not that you could tell tonight. She had been walking the streets ever since leaving home and hadn’t even seen a single dealer, let alone a mugging.

‘How am I supposed to be a hero if all the criminals are elsewhere?’ she wondered, choosing to enter another alley at random. Immediately upon entering, she crouched behind a dumpster. Further down the same alley was a group of around a dozen ABB gangsters as well as one of the people Taylor had been hoping to avoid tonight… Oni Lee.

 

Oni Lee was basically a sociopath. According to Parahumans Online he was a remorseless killer that could teleport, leaving behind a double, and who loved to use either knives or grenades. Basically he would teleport behind you or next to you, attack, and teleport away before you could even hope to strike back. Her quick glance told her that Oni Lee was armed with at least two knives and was wearing a bandoleer stacked with grenades.

 

“They should be headed this way,” one of the gangsters said. “Remember, we’re here as backup for Oni Lee, our goal is to keep them busy until Lung shows up. Don’t let them escape towards the inner city or we’ll be the ones to pay the price!”

Lee kept silent, Taylor noticed. Slowly she decided to back off. If the ABB were trying to set an ambush for someone it was likely another gang, and she did not intend to end up in a gang war on her first night out… or ever. Unfortunately just as she rose from her hiding spot and made to sneak out of the alley again, one of the gangsters happened to look her way.

“Over there!” he yelled.

Taylor ran, ducking right the moment she hit the street and went straight for the first doorway she saw. The door was locked of course, not that it stopped her as she threw open the door and ran into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind her. She had picked an abandoned building from the looks of things, not that she looked around much as she made a straight line for the stairs leading up.

 

“Fucker is gone!” she heard from the street, voices carrying through the empty road. Taylor didn’t stop running, heading up and up until she found the roof access. It was also locked, at least until she placed her hand on the doorknob and threw the door open. She fell forwards, catching herself on her hands, and wheezed from the death run she had just done to escape the gangsters.

The sound of something compressing the gravel next to her alerted her just in time to roll sideways, seeing the glimpse of a blade pass through where her neck had been prior to her dodge move. Oni Lee had teleported onto her rooftop and was looking down at where she lay just a second ago.

 

“Wait wait wait can we talk about this? I was just leaving OH FUCK!” Taylor had to stop her panicked babble as a second Oni Lee appeared next to her new position, slashing for her again. Somehow she managed to scramble away just in time again, getting back on her feet. From the corner of her eye she saw the original Oni Lee explode in a cloud of white ash.

 

“Fine! If we gotta do it this way, it’s your own fault!” she yelled with more bravado than she knew she had. Oni Lee teleported next to her again and she kicked for his shin while his former self exploded in white ash again. He avoided her kick, but the sound of several pieces of metal falling down distracted him for a moment as Taylor ran for the opposite corner of the roof.

 

A deafening explosion hid Oni Lee from sight as the eight grenades he had been carrying in his bandoleer all exploded. Taylor lay on her front behind an air cooler as the explosion hit, the metal hiding her from the shrapnel. Carefully she looked over the device at where Oni Lee had been standing a moment before, seeing only a small crater but no sign of the homicidal gangster.

 

Taylor stood still, shaking like a leaf. She was very aware of just how close to death she had come in the past few minutes. Then she almost fell over again as three heavy impacts shook the roof. Three monstrous animals that looked like a cross between a lizard and a tiger, if said tiger lizard was all covered in muscle rather than scales or fur, had jumped on her roof from an adjacent one. Strangest of all was that they all had riders: two girls, one guy, and one person she wasn’t sure of the gender of but who she judged to be a man by his height.

 

“That was fucking awesome,” the fourth one said, confirming that he was male by his voice. “How did you manage to pull the grenade pins that quickly?”

 

“Regent, we decided I’d talk first,” the other guy said. He was dressed in all black like she was, only his costume was basically out law biker complete with a skull covered helmet. “You really helped us out,” he said as he dismounted. Once he was standing on the roof he held out a hand towards Taylor.

 

Taylor just nodded, making no move to take his hand. The other three dismounted as well.

 

“Not gonna lie, we were pretty freaked when we realized Lung was hunting for us tonight. Only, he never showed up… there we are all ready to throw down and instead of Lung, we find, well, you, kicking Oni Lee’s arse while a dozen or so gangbangers are on the street trying to open some door. How did you manage to get up here, and what the hell did you do to him anyway?”

 

“She managed to open and re-lock the doors, and has some trick that made her pull out all of Lee’s grenades’ pins at the same time,” the girl dressed all in purplish black said. She grinned as she added, “Lee managed to throw the bandoleer off just in time but was knocked off the roof by the blast. He’ll live, but he broke a few bones at the least.”

 

The biker guy turned to look at Taylor. “Introductions. That’s Tattletale. I’m Grue. The girl with the dogs—” he pointed to the other girl, who Taylor realized was controlling the beasts —dogs?— with whistles somehow. She wasn’t wearing much of a costume except for a dog mask. “—We call her Bitch, but the good guys call her Hellhound instead. Blame P.G. Last and least is Regent.”

 

The guy who had told me my fight had been ‘fucking awesome’ chuckled, retorting, “Fuck you, Grue,” in a tone that made it clear he was amused more than anything. He looked like a guy who had just escaped a renaissance faire.

 

Grue looked over at Taylor for several seconds, then asked in a slightly worried tone, “Hey, you okay? Are you hurt?”

 

“She’s not introducing herself because she’s shy, not because she is hurt,” Tattletale told Grue. It looked like she was gonna say more, but then she turned her head. “Heroes incoming. We gotta scram.”

 

Bitch nodded and whistled and Taylor jumped as the building shook from the impact of the three monster dogs returning from wherever they had gone to while they had been talking. Well, listening and talking.

 

“Hey,” Grue said, looking back at Taylor. “You want to come with us?”

 

Taylor shook her head.

 

“Want to at least tell us your name?” Tattletale asked.

 

“Vacate,” Taylor said, “I… I’m Vacate.”

 

“Well, Vacate, one of the Protectorate is coming here in a few moments. You’d better head out unless you want to spend some time locked up at the Rig. We’ll talk later, okay?” Tattletale said. She climbed on one of the dog monsters and before Taylor had a chance to reply the three monster dogs jumped off the roof.

 

Taylor looked at the roof access door, but it was blocked by rubble from the explosion Oni Lee’s grenades had caused, leaving her with no way down other than the fire escape… which had been crushed as well.

 

“Fuck,” she said, as the sound of a motorcycle drew her attention to the street and she saw one of the biggest heroes in the city, Armsmaster, arrive. Their eyes met across the distance and for a moment she admired his armour and halberd before he trained said weapon on her.

 

“Unknown Parahuman, you’re under arrest,” he called out.

 

“Fuck.”


	2. Vacate 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of this is new, part of it is reused from earlier written stuff. I originally had most of this in flashback or discussion but writing the scenes as they happen works better.

**Vacate 02**

“Unknown Parahuman, you’re under arrest,” Armsmaster called out.

“Fuck. Should’ve gone with the Undersiders if the heroes are trying to arrest me straight away,” Taylor muttered.

“Well, if you want to arrest me, you’re going to have to help me get off this roof first,” she called down after a bit of thinking.

“You’re stuck up there?” Armsmaster called up.

“Yeah, Oni Lee blew up the stairs. He caused all the damage by the way, I was just trying to run away all the time...”

“Stand by,” the armour-clad hero said, finally lowering his halberd and properly securing his motorcycle.

Taylor moved back from the roof edge and leaned up against one of the air cooling units.

=x=x=x=

“Hello there!”

Taylor let out a scream and jumped up, her heart racing as suddenly someone spoke up from next to her.

“Woah, didn’t mean to scare you!” the owner of the voice said. He was wearing a red suit of body armor complete with a helmet, with a silver shield emblem on his chest. Taylor recognised him as Aegis, one of the Wards who was apparently very hard to permanently damage, and who could fly. Which explained how he had come up to the roof so quietly.

“I’m not scared, you just surprised me,” Taylor said once she had her nerves back under control. “Aegis, right?”

“Got it. You’re not going to attack me, are you?” Aegis said.

“Wasn’t planning on it. I had enough excitement for one day earlier.”

“So I see,” Aegis said, looking at the badly damaged roof. “Armsmaster said you were stuck up here?”

“Yeah, Oni Lee’s grenades destroyed the stairs as well as the fire escape, and I can’t exactly jump down.”

“No Mover or Brute power, eh? Well, don’t worry miss, I can get you back on ground level. May I get your name first, though?”

“Ta—Vacate, and thanks.”

“Okay, hold on to me and I’ll fly us back down,” Aegis said. Taylor hesitated only briefly before doing just that, and once she had her arms around Aegis’ waist he did the same to her. The hero lifted them both up with his flight power and then slowly moved them over the roof edge and back down to the ground.

“You can let go now,” he said, sounding amused. Taylor quickly let go, looking down as she fought her blush.

“Finally,” Armsmaster said in a gruff voice as he walked over. “Unknown Para—”

“I’m Vacate / She’s Vacant,” Taylor and Aegis said at the same time.

“Vacant, you’re under arrest,” Armsmaster continued, sounding a bit more annoyed than usual.

“What? What for?” Taylor asked.

“Destructive use of Parahuman powers by an unregistered Parahuman.”

“I didn’t cause the damage, Oni Lee did! All I did was defend myself! I told you before!” Taylor protested.

“You can tell us all about it back at the Rig,” Armsmaster said, producing a pair of handcuffs from somewhere on his armour.

“Sir, isn’t that a bit… much? She was cooperating until now,” Aegis interjected. “Vacant, will you come with us to the Rig for a debriefing?”

“Am I under arrest?” Taylor asked.

Armsmaster seemed to be listening to someone over his helmet radio as he stepped away and was silent for a moment, then he returned and said “No. If you will come in peacefully for a debrief, there is no reason to arrest you at this time.”

“Fine,” Taylor said.

“Aegis, you can go. I’ve got things handled from here,” Armsmaster said.

“Yes sir. Bye, Vacant! Nice to meet you!” Aegis said as he flew off.

“It’s Vacate!” Taylor called after him.

=x=x=x=x=

A few minutes later a PRT van arrived and Taylor was instructed to sit in the back. The door was closed once she entered, then the two PRT officers stepped back in the vehicle and the van drove off.

“Isn’t Armsmaster coming with us?” Taylor asked.

“He’s taking his motorcycle back,” the trooper in the passenger seat said. “So, what’s your power?”

“I’ll keep that to myself for now,” Taylor said.

“Fine with me,” the trooper said. Taylor sighed, wondering if she had made a mistake in coming with them. A little bit later the radio crackled and a voice came on: “Mobile unit delta, take the package directly to the warehouse instead.”

“Delta acknowledges,” the driver said.

“What’s going on?” Taylor asked.

“Nothing to worry about,” the passenger said. Taylor noticed him reach for his side arm, though. She waited for the van to stop for a traffic light, then quickly jumped for the back door of the van, opening it, and jumping out.

“She’s escaping!” she heard the passenger yell.

“The car door is locked!” the driver shouted. If they said anything else, Taylor didn’t hear it as she ran as hard as he could. She glanced back for a moment and saw the PRT officers had made it out of the van somehow and were aiming weapons at her. A frown appeared on her face as she made their guns lock up, then she was running again, ducking into an alley and out of sight of the troopers.

By the time they caught up she was nowhere in sight, having entered an automated laundrette through the —locked— back door.

=x=x=x=x=

The Brockton Bay Wards were all in assembly when Armsmaster and Miss Militia entered the briefing room.

“Good, you’re all here,” Armsmaster said. “Phone away, Shadow Stalker.”

Grumbling, the former vigilante did so.

Miss Militia walked up to a blackboard and wrote down ‘Vacate’ on top. “We had a security incident yesterday. A previously unknown Parahuman, codenamed Vacate, was taken into custody following a fight with the ABB but managed to escape before she could be extracted from site.”

“She took a vacation from Armsmaster’s tour, you mean?” Dennis, Clockblocker, quipped.

“This is not a laughing matter, Clockblocker!” Armsmaster said in a firm tone. “Vacate was constrained in the back of a PRT issued van, but she still managed to escape. Furthermore she somehow caused the stun guns of the PRT personnel on site to malfunction…”

“I thought her name was Vacant?” Carlos, Aegis, said.

“… possible,” Armsmaster admitted. He tapped some buttons on his armour and a few lines of text appeared on the monitor in the room, as well as a picture extracted from his helmet’s surveillance camera.

> **Codename: Vacate or Vacant**
> 
> **Sex: Female**
> 
> **Estimated Age: 16-19**
> 
> **Power assessment: Blaster or Shaker, can manipulate locks and other equipment**

“There’s not much on there,” Dean, Gallant, said. “Also, Blaster _or_ Shaker?”

“Are we sure she’s female? She’s really flat,” Dennis said.

“One more joke like that and it’s Console duty for a week straight,” Miss Militia said. “As for Blaster or Shaker, her power seems to work at a range, however the exact range could not be determined. It’s unknown at this time if she has an area of effect or needs line of sight.”

“Vacate was not very cooperative during the encounter and the fact she not only manage to escape PRT custody but also disable equipment is worrying. It is imperative she is brought under Protectorate control as quickly as possible, before she joins one of the gangs,” Armsmaster concluded the meeting.

=x=x=x=x

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■

**♦Topic: Oni Lee Out for the Count**

**In: Boards ► News ► America ► Brockton Bay**

**Backerstreet** (Original Poster)

Posted on April 11, 2011:

This evening the docks area was shook up by a fight between the ABB and an unknown Cape. Details are unknown at this time but it was confirmed that at the end of the fight at least one damage was heavily damaged, and the ABB's Oni Lee had to be carried away by his men.

**(Showing Page 1 of 2)**

> **► Bagrat** (Verified Cape) (The Guy In The Know)
> 
> Replied on April 11, 2011:
> 
> Armsmaster was the first responder. The unknown was a new Cape named either Vacate or Vacant. My sources tell me Armsmaster tried to get Vaca(n)t(e) back to the Rig for questioning, but she escaped PRT custody.
> 
> **► NewWaveOnTop** (Cape Groupie)
> 
> Replied on April 11, 2011:
> 
> How the hell do you know these things, Bagrat?
> 
> **► Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
> 
> Replied on April 11, 2011:
> 
> I have my ways.
> 
> **► xXx_Void_Cowboy_xXx**
> 
> Replied on April 11, 2011:
> 
> Why did Armsmaster let a gang cape go?
> 
> **► Backerstreet** (Original Poster)
> 
> Replied on April 11, 2011:
> 
> Can you even read, Void? Vacant was FIGHTING Oni Lee. Which makes me wonder why Halbeard wanted to arrest her.
> 
> **► ChanBanTan**
> 
> Replied on April 11, 2011:
> 
> If you saw the damage Vacant and Lee did to the district, you'd undersatnd.
> 
> **► Yellow_Smurf**
> 
> Replied on April 12, 2011:
> 
> What I want to know is how she managed to escape the PRT? Any idea on her powers yet?
> 
> **► Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
> 
> Replied on April 12, 2011:
> 
> She managed to disable their equipment. No idea on her ratings yet.
> 
> **► xXx_Void_Cowboy_xXx**
> 
> Replied on April 12, 2011:
> 
> Any pics? Is she hot?
> 
> **Tin_Mother: Keep it on topic. You're close to another ban.**
> 
> **► Aegis** (Verified Cape)
> 
> Replied on April 12, 2011:
> 
> Can confirm this report. I spoke to Vacant a bit, she seemed friendly if a bit nervous.

**End of Page. 1, 2**

**(Showing Page 2 of 2)**

> **► Real_Spice**
> 
> Replied on April 12, 2011:
> 
> So why did Halbard try to arrest her?
> 
> **► Aegis** (Verified Cape)
> 
> Replied on April 12, 2011:
> 
> Not my decision. I trust Armsmaster had a reason.
> 
> **► xXx_Void_Cowboy_xXx**
> 
> Replied on April 12, 2011:
> 
> @Aegis So how hot was she?
> 
> **Tin_Mother: That's a thread ban for you.**

**End of Page. 1, 2**

■

**♦ Private message to Vacate:**

> **All_Seeing_Eye:** Thanks for help a few hours ago. How was the meeting with the white hats?
> 
> **Vacate:** Why do I get the feeling you already know?
> 
> **All_Seeing_Eye:** Because I'm psychic! Srsly tho, how did you get away?
> 
> **Vacate:** I just locked their guns and then ran like hell.
> 
> **All_Seeing_Eye:** Nice, nice. We've got to meet in civvies!
> 
> **Vacate:** Why? What do you want with me?
> 
> **All_Seeing_Eye *New Message*:** I want you on our team, of course.

=x=x=x=x=

“Brian! You’ve gotta see this,” Tattletale —no, Lisa out of costume— called out, sitting in the Undersiders' living room.

Brian walked out of one of the side rooms and read the laptop screen. “Wait, she _locked_ their guns?”

“Yup,” Lisa said, a smug smile on her face.

“You know there’s no way that you can just ‘lock’ or ‘unlock’ a gun,” Brian said.

“Bri, I know that, you know that… it’s important that Vacate does _not_ know that, though.”

“I don’t get it?”

“Look, powers are bullshit, okay? As long as Vacate believes she can open or close something, her power can do it for her. I know it can’t work, too, but she was able to disable guns at a distance. And don’t even get me started on ‘unlocking’ grenade pins like she did with Oni Lee.”

“Ah. Got it. So, as long as Vacate doesn’t _realize_ she is doing the impossible...”

“Exactly. And that’s why we need her on the team.”


	3. Little Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A more recent attempt. Taylor's power is based very loosely on Final Destination in that she makes minor changes that can lead to catastrophic results. I stopped writing this one because she turned out to be too much of a victim and I didn't see a way to improve things.

**Little Things**

 

Ever since the… _incident_ , Taylor found herself with these strange urges. Move a chair just a few inches to the left. Tap a street sign pole as she walked past it. Drop a small rock on a stair. She had no idea why she suddenly felt like doing one of those things, but always found herself acting on it before she even realized what she was doing.

Today was no different. The school day had started as usual, with the bitchy trio and their hangers-on intercepting her near the school entrance to sling insults at her. When Taylor had been admitted to the psych ward after recovering from a nearly fatal infection caused by the _incident_ the doctors and everyone else involved had promised her and her dad that the word wouldn’t get out, so of course everyone at Winslow High now knew that Taylor had gone nuts.

As if she could’ve helped screaming when she first woke up and saw death all around her. The nurse she had seen when she first opened her eyes was getting electrocuted by a badly insulated device one moment, and was fine the other. The doctor who had checked her cuts on her legs had his skull crushed as a rock fell on it, but a second later was still just standing normally at her bedside. And her dad… that had caused her to start screaming. Nobody should have to see their father with his throat cut.

 

‘That’s all in the past, Taylor,’ she reminded herself, sitting in Mr. Gladly’s World Issues class. Staring out of the window, she wasn’t aware of her right hand picking up her pen and dropping it, causing it to roll towards the door a little.

A little later the bell rang to indicate the end of class. Experience had taught Taylor to neither be the first nor last to exit the classroom so she quickly packed her things while she waited for the first students to leave. As such, she was watching Madison as the petite girl walked towards the door, only for her to step on Taylor’s dropped pen and slide forwards unexpectedly. Madison flung her arms up to steady herself, causing her right hand to hit Li Seung in the boob.

 

“Gweilo bitch! That hurt!” the probably-ABB-Asian girl yelled out, glaring murder. Madison paled and ran out of the classroom, only for Li and two of her probably-ABB-friends to pursue her.

Taylor didn’t care much, at least this meant that Madison was likely to be occupied during lunch. And an occupied Madison was one that wouldn’t try to mess with her.

 

At the end of the school day, Taylor heard that Sophia Hess — _that bitch_ — and Li Seung had been caught fighting in the gym. Sophia was apparently sporting a —heh— black eye while Li had had a tooth knocked out. Madison meanwhile had her nose broken by either Li or one of the other ABB girls that had been chasing her. Surprising Taylor not one bit, Sophia had gotten off without even a warning, but at least it meant that when she left the school building none of the trio were waiting for her so the worst she had to endure was Greg Veder’s chatter as he claimed the seat next to her in the school bus.

 

It had been a good day.

 

=x=x=x=x=

 

Of course things never went well for long when your name was Taylor Hebert and your school position was that of pariah.

Sophia evidently had frustration to work off so she had caught up with Taylor the next day during lunch and had jumped her in the bathroom Taylor had been hiding in.

“I heard you were laughing at Madison yesterday, weakling! Well, are you laughing now?” Sophia gleefully exclaimed while she was giving Taylor a beating. All Taylor could do was try to protect her face and stomach as Sophia railed on her, her arms moving apparently randomly to deflect Sophia’s blows and kicks. Neither aggressor nor tormentor noticed that one of Taylor’s weak swings hit the jeans pocket Sophia was carrying her phones in, nor that by pure accident Sophia had left one of the two unlocked. Taylor’s hand just happened to press a special icon that was connected to a certain console located elsewhere in Brockton Bay, opening an audio feed and sending out a distress signal.

“I’m going to put you back in the hospital, Hebert! You thought the locker we pulled on you was bad? Well, by the time I’m done with you today you’ll be lucky if even a Merchant will be able to look at your busted face without disgust!” Sophia yelled as she kept kicking and hitting the whimpering girl.

A few minutes and many punches and kicks later, Sophia finally stopped her assault. Glaring down at the thoroughly beaten girl one more time she could not help but add a final insult: “Lying down in a pool of your own filth, just what you deserve, Hebert. Remember, not one word to anyone or you’ll get double this next time. Nobody believes you anyway, they are all on my and Emma’s side.” Sophia picked up Hebert’s bag to rifle through and destroy later, then left the bathroom.

Taylor whimpered, curling back into a ball, and passed out from the pain.

 

=x=x=x=x=

 

Emily Piggot, Director of the local PRT glared over her table at the local Protectorate head, Armsmaster. “Run it by me again, how did we end up in this mess?”

 

“At approximately 1:15 PM local time the Wards Console operator received a distress signal from the Wards cellphone issued to Shadow Stalker. A muffled audio channel was opened, presumably because the cellphone was still in Shadow Stalker’s pocket at the time, but the audio was clear enough to make out the sounds of fighting and several threats by Shadow Stalker to the other party involved in the fight, one Taylor Hebert, were recorded.

The operator attempted to get Shadow Stalker’s attention but the emergency channel was one-sided and no audio could be sent. Shadow Stalker’s civilian phone was not responding and presumably turned off or set into airplane mode as per school regulations.

As the fight appeared to be extremely one-sided and the operator was worried by Shadow Stalker’s threats towards the other girl, a PRT response team was sent to Winslow High to intercept Shadow Stalker and her presumed victim. Upon arrival the fight was over and Miss Hebert was found unconscious and wounded in the girl’s bathroom. Paramedics were called and officer Durban remained with the girl while officers Smythe and Pierce went to collect Shadow Stalker from her class. Shadow Stalker appeared to cooperate with the officers, but she managed to give them the slip in the school corridors by changing into her shadow form and leaving the area. Her Wards phone was found discarded near the school gates a little later.

Officers are currently on stakeout near Shadow Stalker’s civilian residence to attempt to intercept her should she return home.”

 

“Christ. And what of the victim?”

 

“Miss Hebert’s injuries were severe enough for her to be taken to the hospital. PRT officers Smythe and Pierce found Miss Hebert’s school backpack in possession of Emma Barnes, presumably the ‘Emma’ Shadow Stalker mentioned during her assault on Miss Hebert, and Miss Barnes was taken into custody. She is currently in interrogation room 2, waiting for her father who insisted on also acting as her lawyer.

Miss Hebert’s father was informed of his daughter’s injuries by hospital staff and is presumed to be en route to the hospital now. Assault and Battery have been assigned to guard Miss Hebert while there.”

 

“Why set guards on the Hebert girl?”

 

“Shadow Stalker has shown severe aggression towards Miss Hebert and I judge her to be in potential danger, should Shadow Stalker blame Miss Hebert for her current problems.”

 

“All right, I can agree with that. Do we have any idea what set Shadow Stalker off today?”

 

“In interviews with other students it became clear there is a great deal of animosity between Miss Hebert and a group including Shadow Stalker in her civilian identity. The ‘locker’ Shadow Stalker mentioned was a particularly mean spirited ‘prank’ from three months ago that resulted in Miss Hebert being locked inside a school locker filled with filth for possibly several hours, resulting in her being hospitalized.”

 

“Dammit! Why wasn’t this on file?”

 

“Unknown at this time. No police follow-up was done for the case and the Heberts seem to have settled with the school, as Winslow High paid for Miss Hebert’s medical bills. Shadow Stalker should have reported on this as part of her Ward duties, though.”

 

“Yes, she should’ve. But if she was involved with it...”

 

“Then it makes sense why she didn’t. I agree.”

 

“All right. I want Miss Barnes interrogated on everything she knows about Miss Hebert and Shadow Stalker the moment Mr. Barnes arrives, and see if we can get Panacea to give Miss Hebert a visit. I want her side of the story.”

 

“And what about Shadow Stalker?”

 

“I want her in a cell asap. Increase her threat level to armed, dangerous, and a flight risk. She’s not getting away with this on my watch.”


	4. Ascended Threat (one shot)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a change, this is not a snip but a complete one shot. It is also by far the most scary Taylor I have written yet. I am sure you will agree.

**Ascended Threat**

  
Sophia Hess sat in the Wards headquarters and watched the repeat of the urgent newscast on the main television. Her befuddled expression was not unique, the other Wards seemed equally confused or scared.  
  
Aegis, the new Wards team leader, walked back into the main room and caught their attention by stepping in front of the TV.  
  
“We have a Protectorate meeting in board room five in 10 minutes, you know what about. Make sure you’re there.”  
  
Sophia ignored anything else he was saying as she got a text message from her best friend Emma just then.

> EB: U C the news?!?  
>  Soph: crazy ikr?  
>  Soph: ward meetup in 10 will txt l8r.  
>  EB: What r we gonna do?  
>  Soph: no id  
>  Soph: ill see if the boss knows anythin then txt back. gtg

  
Madison had also sent a text message, or rather, a few:

> Mad: wtf did i just c?  
>  Mad: you did see t news?  
>  Mad: soph? this is huge!  
>  Soph: hold ur tits ill txt or call l8r. em n i already no.  
>  Soph: don’t say anythin or do somethin stupid. gtg

  
Sophia put her phone away as she realized the others had already left.  
  
“You coming, Stalker?” Clockblocker asked, waiting near the door.  
  
“Yeah, yeah...”  
  
Sophia was the last to arrive, earning her a glare from Armsmaster.  
  
“You’re late, Shadow Stalker. The meeting was called for 6:30 PM exactly and it is now 6:31.”  
  
“It’s just one minute, Arms. Just get on with it,” Assault said.  
  
Armsmaster shot Assault a glare of his own, then looked over the assembled group of heroes. “Now what we are all here, let’s get started. Has anyone here not seen the 6 o’clock news?”  
  
Nobody said anything or raised a hand, so he continued, “The United States, and in fact the entire western world, are under siege by a particularly powerful and dangerous Parahuman. As you all know she contacted the Channel 6 News today at 2 PM to list her demands. Her threat was initially dismissed as a prank call until she displayed her powers on the Channel 6 building. Once Channel 6 involved law enforcement, the Parahuman stepped up her assault and displayed her power across 26 of the United States, all States east of the Mississippi river. At this stage a joined PRT and Protectorate force was sent to take the Parahuman into custody, however she was not found at her home. A further list of demands was called in by phone from the office of the Dockworkers Association, followed by her power manifesting itself in the 22 additional contiguous United States. At this point in time only Alaska and Hawaii remain free of her influence.”  
  
“We all know that, what does this Parahuman want though?” Assault asked, voicing the question many in the room had.  
  
Armsmaster grimaced. “She demands a complete background check of every Protectorate hero, including Wards —she specifically mentioned the latter had to be involved— for any criminal behaviour. Additionally she demands that the trial against the Parahuman Canary is stopped and Canary is given new representation as well as a new judge and jury. Lastly she demands that the Protectorate, and I quote, ‘get off their lazy asses and arrest the heads of the gangs in Brockton Bay and actually keep them behind bars’.”  
  
Sophia was attempting to move to the back of the room and out of sight of anyone as she tried to fish for her phone in her pockets.  
  
“You keep saying ‘the Parahuman’, Armsmaster. Does she have a name?” Gallant asked.  
  
“The news has fully reported on her civilian name as that is what she identified herself by, but we are giving her the codename ‘Ascension’. Current power classification is a probationary Shaker 7+.”  
  
Someone whistled.  
  
“Seven plus? What the hell? What, exactly, is her power?” Vista spoke up.  
  
“Ascension has effectively shut down every elevator and moving staircase across the country. Millions of people are stuck on high floors or are forced to take the stairs or fire escapes back down. The logistical nightmare alone is costing the USA billions of dollars, let alone the fact that it is making us a laughing stock in the eyes of the world,” Armsmaster clarified.  
  
“Make no mistake: Ascension, Taylor Hebert, is the undisputed Queen of Elevation.”


	5. nIce Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of an experiment with an unreliable narrator here. Power inspiration should be obvious. I am not really happy with it but don't see a good way to improve it. The title sucks.

 

My name is Nunya Business and I am dead.  
What’s that you ask, how can I be talking to you when I’m dead? Well, I’m not dead dead. Not completely anyway. Okay, I see I am not making much sense. Let me rephrase.  
My name is none of your business, and I might as well be dead.  
Better? Oh… no, I’m not being melodramatic. Kudos on knowing that word, by the way, I wasn’t expecting it from someone like—  
Hey now! I’m trying to give you a compliment! Oh, okay, back to the dead thing. Here, let me clarify. See this needle? Feel this? Woah! No need to hit me, I was just illustrating my point! It’s just a little prick.  
Really? ‘That’s what she said?’ That was bad and you should feel bad. I pricked you—  
Okay, get the juvenile humour over with. Are you done? Good. I pierced—  
Teenagers… As I said, I pricked you to prove a point. Do it to me. No, you saw correctly, I didn’t flinch. Fine, do it again if you must. It doesn’t hurt, I literally can’t feel it. Yeah, now you get it. I might as well be dead, I can’t feel a thing. How did it happen, you ask? Well, for that we need to go back to a particular Friday…

x-x-x-x-x

“Is she coming?” Emma asked.  
“Julie saw her headed this way, she should be passing the corner right about—”  
“Hush, she’s here,” Sophia interrupted Madison. The trio waited for Taylor to pass the door to the classroom they were waiting in, then stepped out as one.  
"Hi there, Taylor," Emma said in a sickly sweet tone. "Looking for another place to hide?"  
"Emma, I... what do you want?" the timid girl asked.  
"What I want is for you to be gone, weakling, but I'll settle for you being put in your place."  
"I... I... gotta go," Taylor stammered, grabbing her backpack closer to her and scanning the corridor for an exit. Unfortunately for her, she was near a dead end, with only the roof access door offering a way out. Seeing Sophia take a step towards her, she took it.  
"You messed u-up," Madison said in a sing-song voice as Taylor passed through the door. Sophia smirked as she took a wooden wedge that the trio had prepared beforehand and blocked the door with it.  
"That'll do it," Sophia said. "No way the four-eyed ho is getting out of there before anyone removes this."  
"How long are we keeping her up there?" Emma asked.  
"Who cares? The break is almost over girls, let's get back to class. Let the ho have fun up there."  
"Hope she dressed warm, I heard it may snow later," Madison said. "Not that I'm worried for her," she quickly added.

x-x-x-x-x

How long was I stuck up there, you ask? Well, long enough. Long enough for it to happen. Oh, don't give me that. What 'it'? Don't you have eyes? Yeah... I thought so. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure when they found me but it was long enough for a missing person to have been filed by my father. I'm still surprised he even noticed I was gone, probably only because I usually do the cooking for him and he got hungry. Oh, you think I'm being harsh? Well, you try living with a man who has emotionally shut down and whose evenings usually come down to crashing in front of the TV with a beer or ten. Yeah, enough about that indeed. Anyway, the next thing I knew I was waking up in a hospital bed with an IV stuck in my arm and one of those annoying heart monitors beeping next to my head. Turned out I was in a coma for a few days and they weren't sure if I'd ever wake up again. Well, I did, obviously.  
'Did they catch them?' Heh. Of course not. Who would ever act for little me against the perfect little girls Emma Barnes, Madison Clements, and Sophia Hess? Oh, didn't you catch them the first time? Emma 'traitor' Barnes, Madison 'slut' Clements, and Sophia 'psychopath' Hess. That helpful? Yeah, yeah, I heard it before. Useless dad rolled over and signed the papers the school lawyer handed him to not sue in exchange for hospital bills paid, and the cops didn't pursue the matter as it was 'just a prank, bro!'. Fuck them all. What? Okay, okay, I'll get to the point...

x-x-x-x-x

The big guy was snarling, "... the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?"  
The rest of the ABB gangsters agreed with the big guy, so I had a bit of a problem. I had been planning to just run away when I first saw Lung and his gang, but if he was planning to murder kids?  
Not gonna happen.  
I left the cover of the dumpster that I had been using for cover and stepped towards the gang.  
"What the hell?" one of the gangsters said as he saw me, which was all I was willing to let them say. I raised my arms and let go.  
Blueish white energy left my palms and quickly impacted the would-be child killers, turning into snow, ice, sludge, and more winter fun. Before Lung had even turned to face me his entire gang as well as he were covered with snow and ice.  
I actually laughed, wondering if that was all he could do. Of course, that's when things went a little bad. The ice started to melt as the air around Lung started to heat up, and the big guy quickly began to get bigger.  
I took a deep breath and let loose more of my cold, but it wasn't stopping him. He was already at least twice as large as he had been when I started, and a good part of his body was beginning to be covered by his armour. Worse, he was looking straight at me. One of his eyes was just a glowing line behind his dragon mask, but the other was like an orb of molten metal.  
"Kill oooo," he said, his transformation already impacting his capability to speak.  
Of course, I wasn't going to let that happen, so I drew on more of my power. A veritable glacier's worth of ice formed around his body before he could take a swipe towards me, or even worse, breathe fire on me. There was so much ice and snow flowing from me to the giant-sized gang leader that it blinded me, but finally I had to let my arms drop again. I stumbled forward, catching myself with my tired arms and then, finally, looked up.  
Lung was completely engulfed by blue ice, hatred barely visible on his face as he literally stood frozen in front of me.

x-x-x-x-x

What? No, I didn't see anyone else. Just those ABB bastards and then, later, Assault and Battery. Undersiders? Never heard of them. Bullshit, I'm not lying. Well, your software is wrong. Fuck you, Halbeard. Can I talk to Assault again, instead? At least he doesn't have a fucking halberd stuck up his arse so far it's—  
Thank you. So, that was the fabled Containment Foam? Not a pleasant situation to be stuck in. Pun intended indeed. Where's the big armoured jerk? Snrrt. Serves him right.  
Oh, thank you for the tea. No, it's fine... the cold doesn't bother me anyway.


	6. Loopy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really sure about this one. I have a few ideas about this, either it's mostly canon Skitter getting thrown back in time by someone else, or it is an alt power where she manages the time jump herself. I don't have much more off this because I can't figure out the direction :/

  **Loopy**

  
I woke up from my nightmare only to find it was real. I was still stuck inside my locker, filled with god-knows-what kind of garbage and I could feel bugs and other slimy things all over me…  
If I had had the strength for it, I would’ve screamed again, but all I could manage was a faint whimper.  
I had no idea how long I had been stuck in here but given by how it had been a long time since I last heard anything from beyond my metal prison's door, the school must be closed now. I must've been stuck in here for hours.  
Was I going to die in here? I tried to cry a little but could not even muster the strength for that. Gradually I could feel myself falling unconscious again.

 

I had a weird dream. I was drifting in space and wasn't alone: near me were two impossible forms. They somehow danced and swirled around each other, forming a helix similar to how drew DNA was usually pictured, twirling and moving as somehow they seemed to communicate.  
They were aware of me on some level, I knew, but they weren't interested in me per say, they were more interested in each other.  
They communicated, and I could hear the message...  
  
**[DESTINATION] [AGREEMENT] [TRAJECTORY] [AGREEMENT]**

  
Something inside me expanded and I could feel things... I could see things... and then the locker door was pulled open.

"Finally! God, I had no idea it would take this long!" someone said, in a voice that sounded very familiar. "Fuck, I've been here for hours... oh... wow... this looks bad. Hang on Taylor, okay? Everything will be fine."

I tried to look at my saviour, but I had lost my glasses somewhere in the locker and was probably delirious by now. For a moment I thought she looked like mom, then I passed out for real.

I woke up again in what had to be a hospital room. Sterile white, a tube of some kind stuck in my arm, and the annoying sound of a heart monitor beeping next to my head. I wasn't hurting any longer, but I felt woozy. I was probably on drugs of some kind, explaining that. I was all alone, but I could hear voices coming from behind the door.

"That's bullshit. Emma would never --" Huh. That sounded like Alan Barnes... Emma's father.

"Not on her own, no. She has been twisted by a psychopath. Sophia Hess ring a bell?" This was a teen girl's voice, the same one I had heard when I had been rescued from the locker. It sounded so familiar but I couldn't tell from where I knew her.

"Sophia? But..." Alan's voice trailed off.

"Alan, you and I have been friends for decades. I know Emma was a sweet girl and she would never do... that... to Taylor, but I also trust my daughter. Can you honestly say Emma is doing fine?" That was my dad. What was he talking about, trust me? Trust me with what? We had hardly spoken in the past year...

"Read the journal, uncle Alan. Confront Emma with it, I am sure you and aunt Zoe can tell if she lies to you?" That voice again. Wait... the journal? My bullying journal? And UNCLE Alan? AUNT Zoe? Who the hell...

"She's awake," the strange girl said. I must've made a sound. The door flew open and my dad rushed in, hugging me before I could properly tell what was going on.

"Oh, kiddo, I am so sorry," he said, holding on to me for dear life.

"Dad? What... where am I? How long..."

"Dad, give her some room," the girl said. "Here, your glasses." I took them from her hand and finally could see clearly. What I saw was quite a shock, it was me... me if I looked a bit healthier. Her nose looked a little crooked as if it had been broken at some point, that was the only real facial difference. I glanced over her... my... body. I, she, had worked out and grew some abs and been getting a bit of a tan. Her chest was just as flat as mine, though.

"You are... me?"

"Hey, Taylor. Yeah, you from a bit from now. I'm sorry I had to wait until you triggered, I know more than anyone what kind of hell you had to go through. If I rescued before you got your powers, though, I couldn't exactly be here, now could I?" She knelt down next to the bed, taking my hand.

"Everything's going to be fine now. I told daddy and uncle Alan about the bullying and I'm going to make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did when I started out with my powers. We're going to be heroes, little sister."

"Powers? Heroes? Little sister?" I squeaked out.

"In order, we control animals. All of them. Heroes, yes, because we are a good person. And little sister because you are about a year younger than I am. Oh! We gotta figure out names!"

"Like, hero names?" I asked.

"Sure, though I know mine. But also civilian names, we can't exactly both be Taylor now can we?"

"Taylor, why don't you let her rest a bit for now?" A new, unfamiliar voice cut in. I looked towards the door and let out a squeak of surprise.

"Battery?" The superhero shot me a smile. "Hi, honey. I've gotta steal your... older self... for a bit, okay? You just talk with your dad for now." I just nodded. My other self gave me a comforting squeeze in my hand, then walked out of the door, closing it behind her.

"Good thing we have that guest room," Dad said. "Unless you wanted to share your rooms?"

I was so confused.

 

 


	7. Spectral 01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new fic I started working on. Hopefully more to come!
> 
> Started as something inspired by Schwep's great (dead) fic 'Can't Take The Sky From Me' where Taylor has Genesis's powers.

Chapter 1

 

In the beginning, there was darkness. Taylor drifted for what seemed like forever, aimlessly wandering and wondering where she was and what had happened. After some indeterminate time, she started to notice things. It was still dark, but occasionally she got the feeling something else was near. She wasn’t sure what it was that was near her, or even how ‘near’ could be defined, as she could not even register the presence of her own limbs, but the feeling was there. She found it took a lot of effort to move closer to the presences she found, but she kept trying to stay close to them.   
Finally, after another eternity, she managed to touch one of the presences, and her world changed.   
  
Taylor could see. The darkness was gone, replaced by the sight of a sterile, white room. Annoyingly, Taylor found she could not control where she was looking. Her viewpoint shifted from the bright, almost too bright windows, to the white walls, to what she recognised as a hospital bed. The person lying in the bed was connected to various machines and sacks of fluids by wires and tubes, with one tube going in their nostrils. Taylor’s borrowed eyes briefly looked at the person’s face in more detail and if Taylor could have heard herself gasp, she probably would’ve. For in that hospital bed lay one Taylor Hebert, looking as pale as a corpse, and from the looks of it she was comatose.   
  
The shock caused Taylor to lose the connection to the person whose eyes she had been sharing, and she was back in the darkness.   
‘No, no, no, no!’ she screamed, although everything was still silent, of course.   
‘I can’t be there, I’m awake!’ Silence was her only answer and Taylor cried. Or, at least, felt like she cried. She was unable to even feel tears so she wasn’t sure if she was doing anything at all. In fact, was she even real?   
‘Stop that. I am real, I am alive. The reason I am here… and in that bed… is that... ‘   
  
‘I’m a cape.’   
  
The first step, Taylor decided, was to get her sight back. Now that she knew that the presences she could feel around her were people, she felt extra determined to get near them.   
‘It would help if I had any idea of where I was,’ she thought. No sooner had the thought completed registering, and her world changed.   
The darkness was still there, but whispy, blue fog started to rise from somewhere. As Taylor watched on, fascinated, the fog moved into shapes, shapes that looked like walls and malformed shapes that Taylor assumed represented chairs, beds, and other furniture. It was still fog, so Taylor could see through it, but it clearly formed rooms. For a time she waited, looking on as a world was built around her, then she noticed something odd. Inside the rooms formed by the fog, occasionally light sources could be seen. The lights she could see where a dim yellow and they moved through the rooms as if they were sentient.   
Taylor willed herself to move closer to the nearest light, passing through one of the fog walls as she did so. As she got closer to it, the light started emitting its own fog, lit by its own light, and it started to resemble a person. Taylor reached out to it, then made contact.   
  
Her sight was back, foggy walls replaced by the real white walls of a hospital. Her eyesight donor was walking at a brisk pace through the corridor, eyes flitting back and forth as they scanned room numbers. Suddenly, Taylor was thrown out, back into the fog world.   
‘What the hell?’ Taylor stared after the light… the person… moving further away from her and thought about catching up to them again. The moment she decided to move their way again, though, it felt like she hit some kind of wall.   
‘I can’t go on?’ she asked, of course getting no answer. She stared after the light, losing sight of them as they passed a certain point where her fog also cut out. Taylor turned around and saw something new, a bright yellow cord of sorts. It was far brighter than the dim yellow lights of people she could see moving through the corridors and rooms around, above, and below her, and for a while, she wondered what that cord was. She reached out to touch it.   
  
_ Beep, beep, beep, _ went a machine. Taylor realised she could hear things, now, but her sight was gone.   
_ Beep, beep, beep. _   
Somehow, it was relaxing.   
_ Beep, beep, beep. _ __   
Why was she so tired?   
__ Beep, beep, beep.   
Taylor slowly fell asleep.   
  


  
  
  



	8. Spectral 02

_Beep, beep, beep._  
‘Five more minutes,’ Taylor mumbled.  
_Beep, beep, beep._  
‘Wait… that isn’t my alarm.’  
_Beep, beep, beep._

‘Great. Still blind.’ Taylor woke up fully and opened her eyes. At least, she assumed she did. Everything remained black for a moment, then the fog appeared. Gradually it settled in the familiar shapes of rooms and corridors. There was one new thing, a bright yellow ‘light’. She looked down and realized it was the end of the cord she had seen yesterday, the one that had brought her here. Taylor had the nagging suspicion this was important, somehow.  
The arrival of a new, dim, light was more important than thinking, though. She willed herself to move closer to it and once again found herself looking down at… at herself. Taylor often found sleeping people beautiful somehow, but that definitely did not apply to herself. Not that lying there comatose was really sleeping, but that was beside the point. The person looking at her moved over to the machine, silent while Taylor now that ‘seeing’ but she knew it was likely the cause of the annoying beeping sound. Next, the person -- the doctor or nurse, Taylor guessed -- reached for a semi-transparent bag attached to a stand that had wires running from it to her body and replaced the bag with a new one she got from a tray next to Taylor’s bed. Just as Taylor decided it was time to move on to another viewpoint, the person whose eyes she was sharing turned around and Taylor saw the door open, admitting someone she knew very well.  
Danny Hebert, her father.

‘Dad… I’m so sorry,’ Taylor said, not 100% sure what she was apologizing for. Danny looked tired and angry as he walked further into the room and looked at her body in the bed. He said something, but in this silent world, she had no idea what, then after a pause said something else. The nurse-or-doctor backed off, taking the cart with her and started to move to the door.  
‘Wait, I want to stay here!’ Taylor yelled. Getting no response from her eyesight donor, not that she really was expecting it, she willed herself out of the body and prepared to move for her father’s light, when she realized sound had returned.

“-- sure what to do, kiddo. The, the school, they are paying for your stay but --” Her father’s voice was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and closing and Taylor heard him take a step or two before he spoke again.  
“The doctor said you are in a coma, and that they’re not sure if you’re going to wake up soon. I’m afraid she’s lying to me and trying to make me feel better, and that you’re not going to wake up at all… Fuck.”

Suddenly, Taylor felt something touch her right shoulder, then the unmistakable feeling of her hair being gently brushed away from her face. She was tempted to move into her father’s light to see him care for her but was afraid that would cut off all sound again.

“What happened to you, little owl? The police, they said you… you had likely been mugged and thrown into a dumpster. It was pure luck that someone saw you lying there and called 9-1-1. When I first… the first time they let me see you, I thought you were dead!”

‘Mugged? That isn’t right,’ Taylor thought. The last thing she remembered was getting pushed into the locker by Sophia, and the doors closing on her.

“I went to Alan and Zoe, you know when you didn’t come home. I guess I was… I was hoping you were with Emma, like you used to, and forgot to tell me, but she said, she hadn’t seen you since school and --”

‘Emma? That bitch!’ Taylor felt rage spike in her and for a brief moment, the fog was gone and everything went not black, but red.

 _‘Beep_ beeeeep beeeep beeeep _’_ the device went, changing the frequency and amplitude. As her rage settled the more familiar fog re-appeared, showing three new lights had entered her room. As she calmed down Taylor could hear new voices around her:  
“What happened?”  
“Get doctor Philips!”  
“Sir, you’re going to have to --”

Taylor saw her father’s light move away from her and willed herself to follow, moving into it. As expected, the sound cut out the moment she borrowed his sight.  
She saw the door close on her -- on her father -- as he was all but forced out of the room. Next, she saw Danny move to the opposite wall and she almost jumped out of his body as his right hand slammed into the wall. Next, Danny was cradling his right hand with his left, having apparently hurt himself.

‘Dad! Don’t hurt yourself!’ Taylor yelled, but Danny made no sign of having heard her. Her sight was getting worse now, getting distorted by… Taylor realized her father was crying. It was getting too much for her so she jumped out.

“I need you, kiddo. I can’t stand to lose you, too, not after Annette…”

'I'm not going anywhere, dad!' Taylor yelled, silently. She cursed whatever had happened to her, why was she forced to either see and not hear, or hear and not see? Couldn't her stupid powers let her at least do _something, anything at all_?

A bright yellow dot appeared to the right of her. Taylor tried to move closer to it, but it moved as she did. Confused, she reached for it, only to see the dot move instead.  
'You've got to be shitting me.'  
She moved... her hand... towards the nearest door and gave it a push. Nothing happened, so she tried again, harder. Nothing happened again, so this time she pushed with all her strength, and the door moved a tiny bit.  
'Yay, I'm the world's weakest Poltergeist,' Taylor said, as she suddenly felt really tired again. She touched that bright yellow cord that was trailing her and found herself warped back to her body.

 _Beep, beep, beep._  
Worst sleeping aide ever.


End file.
